A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics XIANG, Nan et al. Conference Paper The Comprehensive Evaluation of Reclaimed Water Effectively Utilization Policy in Tianjin, China 51st Congress of the European Regional Science Association: "New Challenges for European Regions and Urban Areas in a Globalised World", 30 August - 3 September 2011, Barcelona, Spain Provided in Cooperation with: European Regional Science Association (ERSA) Suggested Citation: XIANG, Nan et al. (2011) : The Comprehensive Evaluation of Reclaimed Water Effectively Utilization Policy in Tianjin, China, 51st Congress of the European Regional Science Association: "New Challenges for European Regions and Urban Areas in a Globalised World", 30 August - 3 September 2011, Barcelona, Spain, European Regional Science Association (ERSA), Louvain-la-Neuve This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/120050 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. 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However, the amount of wastewater that can be reclaimed for reuse is subject to many factors, ranging from technical possibility to socio-economic and institutional conditions. Taking Tianjin in China as a case study, this paper provides a systematic framework for the analysis of waste water reuse potential under various driving forces and constrains. A linear programming model was used to analyze reclaimed wastewater reuse potential and the different reuse scenarios concerning environmental and economic development. In this paper we propose tentative policy proposals for meeting such challenges for economic development, water saving and water quality perfection. Through simulation and evaluation of introducing new advanced technologies and sewage plant in the catchment area, the simulation results suggest that the wastewater reuse can substitute 16 percent of freshwater under rational economic, financial and environmental constraints. The framework established in this study and the results of Tianjin case study help to give the optimal policy proposals of reclaimed water utilization. This study also provides a useful basis for the evaluation of specific wastewater reuse simulation for further research. Keywords: Reclaimed water reuse, Envrionmental policy, Socio-economic and envrionmental modelling, Simulation 1. Introduction Water resources are one of the most important things for human existence and social development. Also, with the increase of economic and population in developing countries, water scarcity and pollution problems are becoming more and more prominent recently. Wastewater reuse has drawn increasing attention worldwide as an integral part of water resources management. Such a move is driven by two major forces: scarcity of freshwater resources and heightened environmental concerns[1-3]. Meanwhile economic considerations are also becoming increasing important. Reclaimed water reuse has been used in large municipalities in many parts of the world, especially in areas where the water resources are scare and population and economic growth is rapid [4]. Tianjin is one of the typical areas in point. Reclaimed water reuse practice can be traced back to several centuries ago. And there are a large number of studies on waste water treatment from technological and engineering aspects. Recently, many studies have been undertaken to protect the water environment and improve economic development. In Japan, Hirose and Higano [5] constructed simulation analysis to evaluate water purification policies in the catchment area of Lake kasumigaura, Japan. Also, Mizunoya etc. [6] analyzed and assessed synthetic environmental policies to reduce environmental burdens by biomass technology Studies about comprehensive environmental evaluation in China are mainly concerned with theories and theoretical model at national level. Another important research direction is systematic modeling of the costs and benefits of wastewater treatment and the optimal scale of the reuse under various technological, physical, socio-economic and institutional conditions. One of the noticeable studies as such is by Chu et al.[7], who applied a linear programming model to examine trade-offs between wastewater reuse supplies and demands, as well as the related costs and profits based on 342 cities in China. However, there is rather rare research on reclaimed water utilization modeling and prediction. In most of these studies, conclusions are derived from simple data analysis and foreign experiences [8]. Research on construction and analysis of a comprehensive simulation policy that includes the introduction of current treatment technologies to control water pollutant emissions without deteriorating the socio-economic activities level are badly needed. In the study, we selected Tianjin city as an objective region, and evaluated the various policies on reclaimed water promotion and water quality control with the consideration of economic benefits. Therefore, the significance of this study lies on the fact that Tianjin is a rapidly growing city in both population and economy while water scarcity is intensifying and water pollution deteriorating. 2. Current situation of the catchment area Tianjin, one of four biggest municipalities in China, is located in northern China, near Beijing, capital of China, and the downstream of Haihe River basin. There are 13 districts and 3 counties in Tianjin, the 3 counties are Jinghai, Ninghe and Jixian County. Tianjin’s land area is 1,191,970 hectares. About the land usage, agriculture land accounts for the biggest part, 60.87%; construction land accounts for 32.13%; and unused land is 829.85ha, accounts for 7%. The total population in Tianjin in 2009 is 122.816 million, and with the urbanization process, the urban population increasing rate is much higher than rural population. Fig.1 Location of Tianjin City, China 2.1 Economic development situation From the following figures, we can see that Tianjin’s GDP keeps a steady increasing trend; the increase rate is above 10% per year. Also, the three industries composition demonstrates that Secondary Industry is the monopoly industry while its composition steady rises; primary industry only contributes a little to Tianjin’s economic, and its composition is low ; tertiary industry’s GDP contribution declines year by year. 8000 20 7000 6000 15 5000 GDP(Billio 4000 10 n Yuan) 3000 2000 5 GDP 1000 increase 0 0 rate(%) 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2004 Fig.3 Tianjin’s GDP Composition Trend Fig.2 GDP trend in Tianjin Source: Tianjin Statistical Year Book 2010 2.2 Water utilization and quality situation Water shortage is a serious problem in Tianjin. The per capita water resources in Tianjin is 159.8 m3 in 2008, it is only 1/13 of China average, and only 1/52 of world average. And a large part of its water supply relies on water transferred from Hebei Province. 1% II 20.00 8% 18.61 III 15.00 13.7014.61 13.73 21% 10.30 13.04 14.30 13.31 13.30 IV 10.00 10.60 Tianjin 66% V 5.00 4% 0.00 Inferior V Fig.4 Water quality in Tianjin in 2008 Fig.5 COD emission amount in Tianjin (10000ton) Source: Tianjin Statistical Year Book 2010 Surface water quality in Tianjin is not enlightened; over 70% of surface water in Tianjin is in inferior V level. However, from the COD emission amount from 2002 to 2009, with the economic rapid development, COD amount has been controlled effectively, and the trend is declining. 2.3 Reclaimed water utilization situation Table1. Reclaimed water utilization(2008) units:(10,000ton) Indexes Tianjin Total amount of water resource 18.3 sewage discharge amount 6.82 sewage disposal amount 4.94 sewage disposal rate 72.40% reclaimed water utilization amount 0.08 reclaimed water utilization rate 1.65% Source: Tianjin Statistical Year Book 2010 Furthermore, waste water reuse rate is really low, only 1.65% of reclaimed water is used in Tianjin. While the waste water disposal rate is 72.40%, a large amount of treated waste water has not been used. From the current situation analysis,